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Finding Aid for the A Collection of French Political Broadsides, 1788-1871
530
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Title: A Collection of French Political Broadsides
Date (inclusive): 1788-1871
Collection number: 530
Extent:
3 oversized boxes
Abstract: Collection of broadsides, by various regimes, and occasionally popular societies, composed and posted between the years 1793
and 1871.
Repository:
Language:
English
University of California, Los Angeles. Library. Department of Special Collections.
Los Angeles, California 90095-1575
Physical location: Stored off-site at SRLF. Advance notice is required for access to the collection. Please contact the UCLA Library, Department
of Special Collections Reference Desk for paging information.
COLLECTION STORED OFF-SITE AT SRLF: Open for research. Advance notice required for access. Contact the UCLA Library, Department
of Special Collections Reference Desk for paging information.
Restrictions on Use and Reproduction
Property rights to the physical object belong to the UCLA Library,
Department of Special Collections. Literary rights, including copyright,
are retained by the creators and their heirs. It is the responsibility of
the researcher to determine who holds the copyright and pursue the
copyright owner or his or her heir for permission to publish where The UC
Regents do not hold the copyright.
Collection was processed at the item level by Susan Cribbs, a graduate scholar in the Center for Primary Research and Training,
2007.
[Identification of item], A Collection of French Political Broadsides (Collection Number 530). Department of Special Collections,
Charles E. Young Research Library, UCLA.
As all of these broadsides were posted in times of exceptional political and social upheaval, they demonstrate the various
governments' perception that this was an important medium by which information could be immediately conveyed to as large of
an audience as possible. During the Revolution, broadsides were used, by both the government and the populace, as a tool to
identify and unify 'good', patriotic citizens and define and detain 'bad', rebellious citizens. Thus, during the Terror, the
broadsides were frequently used to announce exceptional legislation designed to render ever larger groups of people 'suspect'
or to encourage fraternity through the celebration of new revolutionary holidays. However, defining patriotic behavior was
not the task of the government alone; most of the Revolution-era broadsides are saturated with letters professing loyalty
to the government and the nation, which individual citizens, popular societies, cantons, communes, departments, and regions
submitted.
After the Revolution, and most significantly beginning with reign of Napol£on, the broadsides cease to be a means of popular
expressions of loyalty and demonstrations of patriotism. From the time of the First Empire through to the fall of the Paris
Commune, the broadsides are increasingly devoted to the posting of new legislation, procedures for public celebrations, tax
collection and election dates, and for public addresses, which often state the needs of the government for the funding of
wars or the hospitalization of soldiers.
Perhaps the most remarkable theme to emerge from the collection is that these broadsides were an outlet to communicate information
to or within cities or departments determined to be in a state of emergency. This is most exemplified in the two major seiges
that book-end the collection; much of the National Convention's communications revolve around the twin uprisings of the Vend£e
and the seige of Lyon. The broadsides issued from the Convention demonstrate that the Jacobin government, anxious to use Lyon
as an example of what happens to cities populated by 'bad' citizens, was quick to decree the destruction of the city. The
Lyonnais representatives, however, also used the broadsides, first, to persuade the Lyonnais to cease their rebellion and,
second, stall the government's execution of its plans. Similarly, the collection ends with the struggle between the Paris
Commune and Thiers' temporarily relocated government. The Parisian-based Central Committee used the broadsides to inform and
instruct citizens about what must be done to defend Paris against the national government. Theirs', isolated in Versailles,
used the broadsides to post information, within the walls of Paris, regarding the immenent re-capture of the capital.
Collection of broadsides, by various regimes, and occasionally popular societies, composed and posted between the years 1793
and 1871.
All of the documents included in this collection are broadsides, by various regimes, and occasionally popular societies, composed
and posted between the years 1793 and 1871. Material in this collection has been placed into chronological order and has also
been separated according to regime. This was seen as an important classificatory system because the political crises endured
during each regime was specific to the form of government that was in place. The collection is further separated according
to the city from which the broadside originated, since the two primary cities--Paris and Lyon--addressed issues specific to
their contingencies. The broadsides issued from Paris trend toward an international, as well as national, consideration of
the political and military events occuring, whereas those emanating from Lyon are localized in their subject matter.
The topics addressed in the broadsides range from acknowledgment of patriotic gifts, acts of treason, public celebrations,
and personal sacrifices. Nearly all of the documents disclose newly enacted or revised laws. The vast majority of the documents
also report on military strategies, requisitions, conscriptions, theaters, and deaths. There are occasional references to
trials, republican or refractory priests, births, and marriages. The documents belonging to the period of the Commune are
frequently used to post information regarding the elections of officials.
Arranged in the following series:
- National Convention, 1792-1794
- Directory, 1796-1797
- First Empire, 1805-1814
- Restoration and Cent jours, 1815-1829
- Louis-Napol£on Bonaparte, 1851
- Paris Commune, 1871.
The following terms have been used to index the description of this collection in the library's online public access catalog.
France --Politics and government --Sources.
France --History --Louis XVI, 1774-1793 --Sources.
France --History --Revolution, 1789-1799 --Sources.
France --History --Wars of the Vend£e, 1793-1832 --Sources.
France --History --Consulate and First Empire, 1799-1815 --Sources.
France --History --Restoration, 1814-1830 --Sources.
France --History --Louis Philip, 1830-1848 --Sources.
France --History --Second Empire, 1852-1870 --Sources.